Superhuman
by elisesdean
Summary: Dr. Whale is able to bring back Daniel and Graham for Regina and Ruby. The problem is, he added another few ingredients making them superhuman, and they're not the good men they were the first time around. How will Emma save the town from a couple of dead, evil superhumans?


****I decided to upload all the finished one-shots I had in my folders in gratitude for being such great friends and reviewers while I go on a (possibly very long hiatus).****

**Anonymous asked you: Dr Whale/Dr Frankenstien brings Daniel and Graham back to life, the two men immediately seek out their true loves Regina and Ruby respectively. Can the two women bring them selves to kill their loved ones or will it fall on Emma to save Storybrooke?**

There hadn't been a storm in Storybrooke like this in quite some time. The lightning was striking incredibly close; it was like it was meant to be. Dr. Whale flipped the switch to open his giant skylight in his lab, then he walked over to the two bodies, checked their restraints for the umpteenth time before deciding they were safe on his slabs. In between them was the final plug that had to be put together exactly when the lightning hit the top of his power supply.

He waited in breathless anticipation until finally he saw lightning strike the top and his hands jammed the plugs together causing the muscles both of the bodies he'd preserved for the last five and forty years to spasm and clench before seemingly seizing.

Once the bodies stopped and the lightning flowed through the entirety of the power supply, Dr. Whale crawled quickly over to the switch and shut the skylight before standing and slowly watching the two bodies before him. He took his goggles off and stared on.

Graham was the first to awaken. He sat up straight, his restraints snapping free. He looked around with a start before his eyes focused on Whale. He glared at the man and started to move, but was stopped by the lower restraints. It only stalled for mere seconds before Graham ripped the leather easily then started for the blonde doctor.

"No. No, no… See… I brought you back for good reason! It wasn't just to prove that I could! It was for Ru—" The doctor couldn't get his last word out as he was lifted by his neck about a foot off the ground. He tapped Graham's hand and gave his best attempt to get his last word out, "RUBY!" It was strangled and barely got out of his mouth. Just as he was blacking out, everything became clear again. He had been dropped on the floor.

"Where?" Graham grunted.

"I'll take you to her just as soon as Daniel here wakes up."

As if on cue, the second body jolted up straight just as Graham had. He too looked around and at seeing the other two, ripped his lower restraints and started for them.

"Regina!" Dr. Whale covered his face in fear of what this brute would do. When nothing happened to him he uncovered his eyes to see both of his second babies staring at him.

That's what they were after all, he gave them life for the second time. He was their father now. He proved that he could bring cold, dead corpses back to life. And for that, he now would get to take care of two grown herculean men. He knew he should have waited for later attempts to start in with the superpowers, but he couldn't help himself. He had given them, or at least he believed he'd given them all the powers of Superman minus the flying.

He carefully moved to the closet, "Before we leave, I need you both to put on clothes." He gave each man a set and carefully moved to the coat rack for his coat and phone. He dialed a number, "Yes, Madam Mayor? Dr. Whale. I have something you need to see. Now. Meet me at the diner. And please call Ruby and tell her to meet us as well?... Believe me, she _does_ need to be there."

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Regina, I told you, Henry's old enough to be home alone for a couple hours. I don't like the idea of Whale getting you and Rubes alone in the diner together." Emma said as she walked with Regina towards the diner door.

"And I told you that we could handle ourselves if for some reason he made advances." Regina huffed as they approached the diner door and it opened just in time, "Thank you, Miss Lucas."

Emma smiled as she passed by the waitress.

"Did Whale tell you what he wanted?" Ruby asked as she shut the door once more.

"No. But I've never heard him as insistent as he was. I've never heard him so…hopeful." Regina set her purse on the counter and sat on one of the stools.

"That's because I never succeeded before tonight." Whale walked into the diner and gave them a smile. He turned and when he realized he wasn't followed, he went back outside, "Don't be shy, gentlemen. Come on." He ushered the men inside.

Emma stood from her spot in the corner immediately, "What the f—?"

"Graham!" Ruby was definitely startled if nothing else.

"Daniel…" Regina stared at the man. She glanced twice to Dr. Whale as she took careful steps, "I don—I don't…understand…"

"It's my life's work. I've wanted to prove that I can bring people back, I wanted to prove that no one had to die. And I did. I've preserved these two men in particular because they were taken from us much too young and they weren't done living yet."

"You're a sick fuck." Emma spoke bluntly, "How'd you do it? Magic hearts?"

"No, the heart and brain was the first thing I set about preserving."

"You took them apart?"

"I had to. If I wanted them to live again, I had to. I had to take them apart and put them back together."

Emma stood cautiously away from both men and when Graham stepped towards Ruby and Daniel towards Regina, she took out her gun, "Uh uh! Whoa, no, Sparkies. Back up. I don't like this Whale. Put them back where you found them."

"EMMA!" Both Regina and Ruby scolded. They walked to their respective men and touched their faces.

"You're really here." Regina spoke softly.

Emma saw the flash of a raging animal in Daniel's eyes before he softened and nodded. She studied Graham and saw the same flash in his.

No. Emma didn't like this at all.

~0~0~0~0~0~

The first time Emma saw the bruises on their bodies, she tried to get them to tell her what happened, but they wouldn't. When Henry showed up at her door crying, she swallowed her pride and frustration with her son's other mother and went to see what was going on only to find Daniel nowhere and Regina sprawled out on the living room floor.

That fight between them did not end pretty. Emma remembered storming out saying something like, "When the hell did you become the battered person? You were always stronger than that. You were never afraid to place the blame and now that Daniel's back it's your fault? You've tripped and fell into the doorknob repeatedly? Are you fucking kidding me?" She of course earned herself a slap, but she didn't apologize. She wouldn't apologize.

~0~0~0~0~0~

The first time Emma found a body in the woods she got sick to her stomach. Storybrooke was a bunch of fairytale creatures, but even the evil ones wouldn't do this to a human. Even the evil ones wouldn't rip a body in two and eat part of the insides.

When she found the second one, it was in a completely different spot. The same M.O., but a different spot.

She started paroling at night. No make-out spots, no seedy underground actual fun club night action, no fun at all after 11. That then became 10 after the third and fourth bodies and 9 with the fifth.

There was no evidence. No pattern that she could find. There were no cameras anywhere. That's when she went to Regina to OK the installation of secret cameras everywhere until she could catch the murderer. She got a stiffened 'no'. And a 'do your damn job better, Sheriff' as a response.

Emma grit her teeth and walked away. She was on her nightly drive when she saw movement in the woods. She grabbed her gun and her flashlight, "COME OUT OF THE WOODS!" She screamed.

Graham came out with nothing but his boxers on.

"Graham… You alone?"

Graham didn't move at first. But then the flash of pure animalistic rage flashed through his eyes Emma stiffened, "Graham? Graham, stay where you are!" She backed up a couple feet and bumped right into Daniel. He was in a similar stage of undress.

His grip tightened around her middle and like a snake, it got tighter and tighter. He was trying to kill her. She put the gun in his face and shot. He fell, instantly dead, but before Emma could move, Graham had hold of her. She didn't hesitate with him either.

She ran to her car and got the hell out of there; she didn't see the men getting up in her rearview. She didn't go home, she didn't go to Regina's or Ruby's to tell them what she did, she actually left Storybrooke, just so she could clear her head.

~0~0~0~0~0~

She drove back into Storybrooke the next afternoon. She'd found a Holiday Inn off the highway and stayed there for the night. She went into the town it was in the next morning and got herself some clean clothes before she drove back.

How was she going to tell Regina and Ruby?

She walked into the diner. As she looked around she came face to faces with Graham and Daniel.

The rage flashed in both their eyes when they saw Emma.

Emma slowly moved to the diner.

"What can I get you?" Ruby wasn't showing anyone one side of her face that day. She had covered it well, but no amount of make up could cover up what Graham had done.

"Can I ask you something?"

"No." Ruby said seriously, "You'll take him away."

"Has he ever gotten hurt around you?"

Ruby looked at her, asking if she had seen it too. "I… what do you mean?"

"How fast did he heal?"

"Super fast. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. Why?"

"Because Graham and Daniel are the murderers."

"What? No… Graham wouldn't."

Emma looked down, "The Graham you love wouldn't. The Graham you knew wouldn't. This Graham… I haven't heard him speak. At all. He beats you—"

"He's been through a lot."

"He's the scum of the earth, Ruby. I don't want you around him!" Emma's voice was hard, "They tried to kill me last night. You can't tell me that you haven't smelt the blood on him, can you?"

Ruby turned away, "Sheriff, I'd like to ask you to leave this establishment. I have the right to refuse service from anyone."

"And I swore an oath to protect and serve." Emma growled as she stood up and slammed money on the table.

"You didn't order anything." Ruby called, but the door was already slammed shut behind the woman.

It was no time before Emma stalked angrily into the Mayor's Office. "Regina I want you out of your house. I want you away from Daniel and I want to know where you are at all times… Regina?" Emma walked over to the chair that faced the window to find Regina in a sling. She grit her teeth and knelt down. Her tone softened and she felt tears prick her eyes as she looked up at the woman, "Regina…" Emma's hand reached for her face. The recoil was so fast it startled the sheriff, "Regina. Listen to me. Please."

"No."

"Regina, he's gonna kill you if you don't put a stop to this!"

Tears fell from Regina's eyes, "I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I love him. He is who I've wanted my whole life. He's who I hunted down your mother for. And now I have him."

"No!" Emma stood, shaking her head, "No you don't have him. He is a corpse, Regina! He's dead. He has no soul!"

"It's what I deserve."

"You're wrong. He doesn't deserve you. Probably never did." Emma let out a grunt of frustration before she knelt back down in front of the mayor, "Look, if you don't put an end to it, I will."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma strutted into the hospital, "Where's Whale?" She would ask every so often as she walked the hallways and eventually, she got to the man's laboratory. She saw him pouring over notes upon notes. She slammed the door to get his attention. "You've created monsters."

"I've recreated life."

"They're animated corpses." Emma's hands were on her hips, "Kill them."

"I can't."

"KILL THEM!…or I will."

Dr. Whale shook his head forlornly, "You can't either. They're superhuman now."

Emma stared at Whale, "Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked deadpan.

"No."

"Why—How the fuck can they be superhuman?"

"I added this serum I concocted. There's no way that they can die."

Emma shook her head, not taking that for an answer, "There has to be one way."

"Beheading. And removing the heart. And burning the brain and heart… And getting rid of the ashes."

Emma nodded once, "This serum… Where is it?"

"There's none left, not the same formula. I have another that I've played with some more in the case over there. Why?"

Emma walked to the case he gestured, "This purple stuff?" she asked as she held the bottle up.

"Yes. Sheriff…" Dr. Whale wasn't sure what he was going to ask of the sheriff as he watched her hold his serum.

"A person need all of this?" She asked as she looked around for a needle.

"I believe so, yes. Why? Sheriff!" He rushed over to the blonde as she stuck the needle she found in the vial.

"Listen. I got two dead dudes running around my town, the two women—two people I've ever had true feelings for at one point or another are getting beaten on a daily, possibly hourly basis, and I have 7 murders that have gone unsolved until last night when I was going to be number 8. I don't care what happens to me; at least I'm trying to do something about _your_ god damn mistake!"

"Mistake?!"

"YES! Because of you seven people are dead. Because of your life's work to bring back life—_super_life to humans once more, you've brought two to life life sure. But seven have died, seven deaths doesn't make your work a miracle. Seven deaths makes it a mistake." She filled the needle and jabbed herself with it. She did this two more times before the serum was gone completely from the vial.

"Sheriff? Sheriff?!" Dr. Whale watched as Emma let the serum work throughout her system. He watched her shake with tremors, breathe puffs of air as if it were 10 degrees Fahrenheit, he watched her start to sweat, he watched her pupils dilate and then he watched her eyes flash over in a goldenrod then a purple before they went back to normal. Then she started to pass out. He caught her just in time. He checked for a pulse, it was rapid, but just as he began to move to get the things he needed to take care of her, he felt a hand on his wrist. He turned back and saw a smile on Emma's face, "Sheriff?"

"I'm fine, doc." Emma assured.

"I'm not sure you are."

"I am." She grabbed Whale by the collar of his white jacket and yanked him close to her, "And I am going to kill Daniel and Graham."

"But!"

"NO!" Emma screamed, this caused the lights to flicker and papers to swoop about, "They have murdered—MURDERED!—innocent people! And it's my job to stop it."

With that, Emma ran and jumped at the window. She flew. She flew out of his lab.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma found herself hovering outside Regina's window. She ignored the weird feeling that overcame her insides. She ignored the feeling that something within her wasn't right. She ignored feeling impending doom.

As she stared at Regina, she told herself she was checking on the other woman, but if she were honest with herself, she wasn't just checking on the mayor.

She'd checked on Ruby and found that Graham was nowhere. She had no new bruises. Apparently Ruby had adapted to survive and bit the shit out of Graham, reminding him just who he was dealing with. Despite his being able to heal, Graham hadn't touched her since. Though that hadn't stopped Emma from insisting that Ruby stay with her.

Emma came a little closer, making sure she was out of sight. Henry had been sleeping at her, Snow and Charming's place so she knew she didn't have to worry about him.

She inched just a little more, this time she caught Regina's attention.

Startled, Regina jumped as realization came over her that Emma Swan was hovering outside her second story window. She carefully moved forward and opened the window. "Emma?" She looked around, hoping that Daniel wasn't just outside. "What… What is this?"

"I told you I was going to put an end to it if you couldn't." Emma came all the way to the window and sat on the roof, leaning on the pane. "I can't watch you get hurt anymore; I can't let you get hurt anymore. He is not the man that died. He is a monster."

Regina turned to face away from her, "I know, but I—" she hiccupped on a cry, "I can't. I see him and I see _him_."

"It's not him."

"I know."

The door burst open and Daniel came in, in a rage. He headed straight for Regina. Emma was quicker. She plucked Regina from the ground easily with her super-strength and flew from the window.

Regina held on tight. "How are you doing this?"

"I injected myself with the Hulk-out shit Whale has been playing with." Emma spoke gruffly.

"Why?" Regina asked as Emma landed on a roof of some sort.

"Because I needed to save you." It was the simplest answer as she set Regina down and moved to the fire escape, "Come on." She ordered instead of asked.

They went a level below and stood on a small stoop of an apartment, Emma's apartment. Emma climbed in first then offered her hand to the other woman.

"Emma?" Henry asked as he looked at the women climbing into the apartment. "Mom?!" The excitement in his voice was not lost on either mother. Henry ran over to his brunette mother and burrowed into her hold. "Does this mean you're done with him?"

"Yeah." Emma answered for the woman that didn't seem to have one, "It does." She tousled his hair and moved into the living room. "Where's Grams and Gramps and Ruby?" Emma asked as she walked further into the living room.

Henry pointed upstairs, "Dr. Whale came over and said it was urgent…"

Emma looked up and found her mother and father staring back at her with wet eyes.

"Oh Emma…" Snow turned into Charming.

"What?" Emma looked at them then over to Whale, "What?"

"That serum… It's toxic."

"How do you know?"

"Because I was testing it and… my test subjects died. I checked them after you flew out of here."

"Did the rats also fly?"

"Well… no. A couple sprouted wings. But… none flew."

"Then it's toxic to rats." Emma turned and started for the window. She again ignored that feeling of impending doom, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some jackasses to defeat."

"Emma! No matter the effects that the serum gave them, they all died! I think you only have 24 hours."

"Then I better kill 'em fast."

"How?" Ruby didn't try to stop her; she just wanted to know if Emma was going in guns blazing or not.

Emma turned slightly, "I got a plan."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma didn't have a plan.

She'd found them both, silently communicating, as they held a family captive in their living room. One would make their way over to one of the family members, wait for said family member to scream then stop whatever it was they were doing and share in a smirk.

Emma ran—about as fast as Dash Incredible—in front of them, putting herself between them and the family. "Now, boys. Anyone ever tell you it's not polite to play with your food?"

The two men looked at each other before they decided that they needed to zero in on Emma. Emma though, lured them outside. And as soon as she did, she started messing with them. She'd run behind them, hover above them, anything to confuse them. She would come from behind and sucker punch them, bash their heads together, anything to get the upper hand. Hey, she wasn't proud at this point. She was just ridding her town of these two assholes.

She kept this up, kept luring them, kept getting in hits. They didn't notice that they were headed for the line. The line that took away memories and magic. She knew that no matter how much Whale hated magic, that he'd at least a little because of their hearts. She'd read the book. She knew about the hearts.

She got a little too confident as they neared the orange line in the road though. She swooped a little too far down. Daniel had his wits about him this time and grabbed her ankle, yanking her down to the ground. She was Loki to Daniel's Hulk. She didn't have a chance. Well… She usually wouldn't have a chance. But now, she popped back up quickly, and was instantly healed. Faster that either Daniel or Graham.

She smirked and jumped, flying once more. But it was during this flight that she started feeling faint. The words of Whale came to the back of her mind. But she couldn't let them bother her. She was so close to getting them out of her town, killing them for real. She kept on though. Determination flowing through her more than anything.

She wasn't moving as fast as she thought she was and this time Graham was the one to catch her. He merely slapped her down as if he were spiking a volleyball. She was knocked out.

As she came to, she felt Daniel's and Graham's hands tearing at her flesh. She was vaguely aware that she was becoming Graham and Daniel's next meal. Just as the pain was becoming too much and she was going to let the pull of unconsciousness take her over, a voice broke through.

"EMMA?!" She heard the voice of one Regina Mills rouse her completely from her state of semi-consciousness.

The hands that ripped at her flesh left her alone.

"Emma! Emma wake up! You have to wake up!—Daniel! Daniel, leave me alone! Emma! PLEASE!"

Emma focused on Regina's voice and with each syllable, she found something buried within her, buried within the defeat, the doom she'd felt earlier. All the pain had seemingly eradicated. She finally opened her eyes to find a blood-smeared stomach. No wounds that she was sure were there, were there. She picked up her head and felt her skull move into place.

That was definitely a weird feeling.

She looked around to see Ruby wolfed out, snapping at Graham and moving quickly to Daniel. She watched Daniel kick Ruby; she heard Ruby's yelp. She felt herself sit up, watching her legs heal. She moved slow at first, but as she saw Daniel's hand wrap around Regina's throat, she found her body moving on her own.

She bulldozed Daniel, the undead man hitting the ground with a thud. Emma gave one cautious look to Regina before moving on.

Had Regina not been so caught up with the fact that Emma was alive, she would have noticed that the blonde's eyes glowed bright.

Emma bent over, grabbing Daniel by the scruff and threw him like a rag doll all the way to the line. She then moved to Graham. Graham went willingly as she maneuvered him like a common criminal cuffed and ready to be transported to the local penitentiary.

She picked Daniel up once more, holding them both above her head. Glaring them down.

"Do it." Graham grunted, his throat making once last-ditch effort between Emma's fingers.

"Please." Daniel gave a grunt of his own.

Emma looked at them both and set them down, keeping her hands in place.

"We were happy where we were. At peace."

"Here is so primitive. We can't control it."

They spoke in the same order.

"Please, Emma."

"Do it."

Emma shoved them both over the line. They looked to one another, gave one last real look to the women behind them and faded to dust blowing as far from the line as dust could.

Emma, despite being a superhero for the last few hours could not believe what she saw happen. She thought they were going to collapse and she'd have to bury the bodies. Not… dust.

She crossed the line and touched the dust piles. She needed something concrete. She needed to dig those graves and bury them. But she couldn't do that anymore. She let the ashes fall from her hand and turned to Regina and Ruby, who were at the line.

She watched Regina grab Ruby's arm and she watched both of their jaws fall slightly.

"What?" She asked gruffly.

"Your eyes…" Regina spoke softly.

"They're still glowing. You're still superhuman…"

"But I crossed the line."

"Dr. Whale deals in science not magic." Regina responded still cautious and disbelieving.

Emma crossed the line once more. She took Regina's face with her hand, "You okay?"

"Yeah." Regina nodded.

"Yeah?" Emma made sure. Regina nodded again. Emma then looked to Ruby, "Rubes?"

"I'm fine." Ruby put her hand on Emma's shoulder, "Emma…."

"Yeah?"

"You died." Ruby spoke deadpan.

"I'm alive." Emma turned back to Regina, "Now's not the best time for this, but coming back from death gives you a new perspective…" She took Regina's face and kissed her with everything she had.

~0~0~0~0~0~

It had been three months since Daniel and Graham died for the second time. Physical wounds had healed and emotional wounds were well on the way. Regina made sure to take extra care of the Sheriff, and Ruby made sure to always give her a little more food at the diner and give her free meals. Needless to say, both women were eternally grateful.

Whale had insisted that Emma come in for check-ups and tests first daily then weekly and starting now bi-weekly, soon to be monthly, and so on until he was convinced that Emma was fine.

Regina insisted on taking Emma to those appointments. This day, as they walked into his lab they found him sitting at a new, antique-looking, nice wooden desk. They found him writing in a crisp new, fancy journal.

"Whale." Emma called his attention as she hopped up on one of his slabs. "What're'ya doing?"

Whale looked up after finishing his last sentence, "Hm? Oh…" He stood with his new journal and with one that looked dated to say the least. He held the old journal up, "I've been recording my findings in this journal since I was young. Everything I ever taught myself led to the dreadful second lives of Daniel and Graham. And led to you." He then walked over to his fireplace, lit a fire and threw the old journal on top. He turned to find surprised looks on both women's faces.

He sighed as he opened his new journal then breathed deep before he started reading, "I always knew that I would discover greatness. I always knew that I would discover life once more, life anew. I found both. I found out how to make us all superhuman. In a world with no magic, no forces of fate equipped to stave magic from certain beings good or bad, there is no need for everyone to be super. It would make us all ordinary. I've created villains from death and a hero risked her life to become super at my hand. I know how this came about and I'm the only one that will. I've destroyed all my knowledge lest for the parts that I can never forget. This journal is a record of all the things I know my superhero has done and is doing to protect the humans' precious life." Whale looked back up.

"You just burnt all your data, all your information?" Emma stared at the burning book behind the doctor.

Whale nodded, "I was not meant to recreate the lives of people already passed on. My knowledge cannot be shared with anyone. I know this. I just wanted you to know that I know it now."

Emma nodded dumbly.

"Shall we get started?" Whale asked as he tapped the sheriff's shoulder, asking her to lay back.

"Yeah."

**AN: I know this is short, especially for one that randomly became a superhero fic. But I think it's the most I could do to give this fic justice. I feel that if I had extended it, it would have gone to poopoo…**


End file.
